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How Awfully Chocolate went from shop to successful regional franchise

The journey of homegrown brand Awfully Chocolate started close to two decades ago. Founder Lyn Lee reflects on its growth from a small takeaway store to thriving franchise that has taken the Chinese market by storm.

It all started with a dream – to make a great chocolate cake. Funnily enough, Ms Lyn Lee was working towards an everyday treat.

The cake had to be light, not too sweet and “one that I want to eat every day and not get sick of,” she says. “It grows on you. The more you eat it, the more you like it and it is something that you can come back to.”

Ms Lee, who was then a lawyer, started regular experiments in the kitchen with her friends. A year later, they finally baked a chocolate cake that ticked all the right boxes.

“I let my boyfriend's mum and her mahjong kakis try it. When they felt that the cake was great, that was it. That was the sum total of our market research,” Ms Lee quips.

“Things just unfolded in a way that it was now or never. When it was taking off, we felt that the business could be bigger and left our full-time jobs. We wanted to see how much we could grow it,” she adds.

In 1998, Awfully Chocolate was born. Its first store, located at the junction of Joo Chiat and East Coast roads, had a single item on the menu: a six-inch chocolate cake. Although there was little marketing, the shop had an encouraging stream of customers.

Still, the chocolatier decided to take things slow. “We have heard of people who would conceptualise a business and sell it at franchise fairs, even though they didn't actually sell these products or have a physical store,” says Ms Lee.

“We thought that this was very wrong. We were not going to expand or franchise until we knew everything about the business. We wanted to run it ourselves. So when I talk to my staff, I know exactly what they are going through, from cleaning the floor to taking out the trash.”

In 2004, Ms Lee used profits from the first store to open its second. Today, Awfully Chocolate has 18 shops in Singapore selling a range of cakes, chocolates and drinks.

Venturing beyond the island

While none of its local outlets are franchises, the chocolatier has tapped on franchise opportunities in overseas markets like Hong Kong and China, where the brand has built an empire.

In 2007, its first franchisee opened a store in Shanghai. There are now Awfully Chocolate franchises in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nantong and Wuhan. A new outlet will be opening in Chengdu in the near future.

What makes the Chinese expansion so extraordinary is that the country did not have a dessert culture, so Awfully Chocolate franchisees had to slowly cultivate a palate for chocolate cake.

“I think having gotten in there and being an early mover mattered. Once the idea of eating chocolate cake cottoned on, expanding in China was easy and fast," says Ms Lee.

"It's our belief that you need to know the market and customers to run a successful business. And because none of the founders were based overseas, franchising was the best model,” she adds.

Awfully Chocolate has since set-up a factory and headquarters in China with marketing and operations staff. Its Chinese team is currently working with developers and franchisees, to find a way to use social media to drive business.

“People ask why we've not diversified more. For one, it is not easy to franchise. If we should expect someone else to replicate that kind of success (which we have had in Singapore), they need to have a similar nerve centre,” she explains.

“We found that it was easier to be successful if we replicated what we did in Singapore overseas. So we concentrated our efforts on China. We think that it paid off.”

In the chocolatier's future

Starting from June, Awfully Chocolate will introduce a new line of chocolates in stores. This will feature four different flavours of dark chocolate, which can be part of gift boxes or hampers.

"We've also invested in new equipment, a chocolate room and staff dedicated to making chocolates. With our own capabilities, we will be able to make our chocolates less perishable and more travel-friendly," says Ms Lee.

Looking back, Ms Lee noted that few dessert stores open in the late-1990s are still around today.

Giving credit to Awfully Chocolate's out of the ordinary corporate structure, she says: “None of the founders' studied retail and hospitality. None of us even studied business. Our interest and savvy translated into different ideas, and doing things in different ways from other dessert shops."

Ms Lee's advice for budding entrepreneurs? "When you want to try something and you talk about it and it gives you goosebumps, gives you tingles and it gets your blood pumping, you should give it a shot.”

Awfully Chocolate began as a small takeaway store successfully expanding into the huge Chinese market

They took their time with the business choosing not to franchise until they understood every aspect of its day-to-day running

Expanding into Hong Kong and China the business decided on a franchise model

Founder Lyn Lee believes their willingness to take risks contributed to their success

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